[Karen]

Cabin fever and cooler weather finally got me off my butt and into my hiking clothes, into the car, and not wanting to spend a fortune on gas -- where to go? One of my favorite places to just "be" is near Windy Pass on the PCT -- there are some hidden little tarns tucked away that are a photographers delight, all within a few feet of the "trailhead". Not enough to do for a hike unless you are bound for Silver Peak and beyond but I've been there, done that, and wanted to do something different. So I backtracked after checking out the tarns at Windy Pass (they were not at their peak in terms of photography) and hiked to Twin Lake(s) on the Cold Creek Loop. Not in a mood to work very hard, I truly took my time and just sniffed the good fall air with a hint of earth in it, decaying vegetation, hint of mushrooms in the breeze and small creatures scurrying about in the bushes getting ready for winter. A few fall flowers linger -- a great big heap of hedge nettle at the Twin Lake outlet near the slippery, askew footbridge, a few asters and goldenrod, bracken turning brown and yellow, Canadian dogwood looking pretty tired but still producing a few berries, bead lily hunkering down for the winter (no flowers, no fruit), vanilla leaf looking very shopworn but beautiful anyway .... but best of all, the rain drops on the leaves and getting my legs soaked from the wet brush. Golly gee, it felt good. Guess once upon a time there were two lakes here but they have merged into one with only the hint of a gravel bar between them. I could imagine the conversation between the two lakes once upon a time, "Gee, I'm getting bored. I think I'm going to become a meadow." "Well, OK, if you must. But take your time and don't hurry. As for me, I'm going to stay put and be a lake as long as I can." I walked around the lake, uh -- well, most of the lake. When I got to the devils club and too much brush I went back the way I came but it was sweet and nice. I love the tall grasses and sedges and mostly I loved the grumpy grey sky and the smell of rain of rain that has fallen a few hours ago and sweetened the earth. Didn't cross the outlet stream on the tilted log (I've done that before) so hiked a ways on the Mount Catherine trail at the junction. When I hit the road I turned around. I was still looking for lost tarns and lakes and legends. Back to the car. Still wanting a taste of fall I went back to Hyak and paid my $5 bucks to hike the John Wayne trail in both directions. I keep forgetting it's a state park (duh). I looked for another place to leave the car and not have to pay the fee but didn't see anything that looked promising and too few other vehicles at the trailhead to "hide" so I just paid the damn thing and hope it helps the state parks somehow. Walked down to the tunnel -- but got more out of the weeds and vegetation that were happily living out the rest of their lives in the disturbed habitat beside the trail. Passed an ugly messed up box-car (messed up from humans) and then walked the other direction. Don't know how far. I dawdled and looked at things growing and dying and things inbetween. Moss. Weeds. Vine maple, mostly still green. Lots of tansy. Fireweed gone to seed. Back home and beat the traffic. Uh, traff-ICK. But it wasn't too bad. Took some pictures. Played with some of them on the computer when I got home and left others as I found them. No, this wasn't a hike for a body. It was a hike for the soul. Karen

[jenjen]

What a wonderful trip report! I truly enjoyed reading that. Thank you.

[Larry]